Exposing Relegatability

Not a word I realize but that's what Newcastle's loss to Bournemouth reveals.  And the 0-1 final actually flatters the Magpies.  Could have been 0-2 or 0-3.  True, Newcastle did have a goal ruled out by a debatable offside call, but from about 20 minutes on, they did little and were hanging on by a thread before Cook's stoppage time header settled the matter.  How much worse is a 0-1 loss than a 0-0 draw.  Meh, either is an indication of serious problems.  No doubt they are missing Merino in the midfield.  And still not much quality up top.  I'm with those who are puzzled why Mitrovic isn't getting some minutes as the scoring drought drags on.

Not much on the takeover front.  One would think that Newcastle's recent form is eating into the purchase price.  Why would you pay EPL money for a Championship Division franchise?  If the sale isn't completed by January 1, would tightwad Mike Ashley risk not making funds available to ensure the team doesn't get relegated?  He has taken risks like that before (how'd that work out?) but maybe because we're talking about his exit strategy here, things might play out differently.


Turning the Clocks Back

The end of daylight savings time meant an extra hour of watching soccer on Sunday, which was helpful given how much there was to see.  Some of it, unfortunately was not very pretty.

The day started at 8 7 am with a rather lukewarm effort from Tottenham as Spurs edged Crystal Palace 1-0.  We'll cut them some slack as that could easily have been a residual hangover of the marvelous midweek win over Real Madrid.  In the next match, Arsenal gamely hung with Man City but the 1-3 result suggests they are just not at the same level this year.  The morning portion of the day concluded with Chelsea's 1-0 win over Man United.  The score doesn't fairly reflect how wide open this match was.  A good watch with the players, not the managers, the focus of the contest.  Except until Conte headed onto the pitch to congratulate his players when the match ended, leaving Mourinho waiting at the tunnel for a handshake. 

By and large the second legs of the MLS conference semi-finals, despite being close, weren't all that scintillating.  In fact, Toronto - Red Bulls was compelling for all the wrong reasons.  A scoreless first half was notable only for its chippiness and yellow cards for Altidore (bad acting) and Kljestan (cheesy mustache).  Further silliness in the tunnel on the way to the locker rooms at the end of the half resulted in both getting straight red cards, meaning both sides would play the second half at 10 a side.  The Red Bulls got one in the second half to make things close; Toronto seemed disinterested in attacking much.  So it ended 2-2 on aggregate and Toronto advanced based on the two away goals in Jersey.

At Yankee Stadium NYCFC nearly pulled off a great comeback, scoring two and hitting the post late.  But 2-0 was not enough to make up the 1-4 deficit left from the first leg and Columbus will advance.  The Yankee Stadium pitch looked silly but at least the footing seemed better than usual.  The last match - Portland vs Houston - might have been the most interesting.  The Timbers scored first to take a 1-0 lead on aggregate but four minutes later Houston tallied; this away goal meant the Dynamo had the advantage.  Portland was likely limited by injuries and couldn't respond.  A late goal for Houston sealed the deal for the Dynamo.

Yeah, I watched just about all of this action, though I didn't check out the Portland-Houston match until Monday morning.  Right, I probably need a life.


Adios Slaven

So quick was Liverpool's response to the West Ham goal,
the bubbles were still in the air as Oxlade-Chamberlain
restored the two goal lead.

Saturday's 1-4 loss at home to Liverpool was the last straw for West Ham ownership and Slaven Bilic
was sacked.  There was hope after Lanzini had brought the Hammers back to 1-2 but the trademark West Ham celebratory bubbles hadn't even hit the ground before Oxlade-Chamberlain restored the two goal lead.  A late goal for the Reds was merely the last nail in the coffin.  Bilic asked several West Ham players what he could have done differently and they bluntly told him that he was not "tough enough" on them and the qualify and intensity of the training session was insufficient.  So in the game of Managerial Musical Chairs, David Moyes found a seat and Bilic is out.  I would expect to see him back.  Wasn't really worried about it but glad that Moyes got the job with all the rumors swirling about West Ham being interested in Rafa Benitez.

I would be remiss if I did not point out a possible turnaround for Everton's season.  Down 0-2 at home to Watford and facing another crippling defeat, the Toffees rallied for an improbable 3-2 victory.  Oumar "Pain" Niasse got things started and Leighton Baines' PK in stoppage time lifted Everton out of the relegation zone.  But wait, there's even more to the story.  Because of significan injuries, there was 12 minutes of stoppage time and in the 100th minute, Watford were awarded a PK.  Except that Tom Cleverely failed to put the shot on frame.  We'll make that this week's YouTubeableMoment 1) because we never said it had to be a great play and 2) it will make Dennis's day, him being a big fan of Cleverely from his Aston Villa days.

With the Man United loss, Man City now has an eight point lead over both the Red Devils and Spurs, which seems like a lot this early in the season; on the other hand, it is early in the season so we won't hand them the title just yet.


Final World Cup Spots Up for Grabs

This weekend is the last international break of the season so no EPL and the MLS conference finals start next week.  Plenty of good stuff to check out between Thursday and next Wednesday.

The two-leg European playoff series include:

Northern Ireland - Switzerland
Croatia - Greece
Sweden - Italy
Denmark - Ireland

There's a few more spots to be decided from Africa and we have the intercontinental playoffs between New Zealand - Peru and Honduras - Australia.  Details on exact times and stations are here.

When that's done, buckle your seat belts as the EPL sides will play a ridiculous crowded schedule between Saturday 11/18 and New Year's Day.  By my count, Newcastle has 11 fixtures in that 45 day period, including three between 12/27 and New Year's Day.  I realize all the clubs face a crowded schedule so I'm not complaining for Newcastle per se but just wondering how is that many matches in a compressed time frame good for the players or the quality of play.